Bangkok - An anti-government protest turned bloody Tuesday, claiming at least one dead and about a hundred injured as police confronted followers of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to help legislators first get in and then get out of Parliament.

Riot police early Tuesday scattered thousands of PAD followers who had laid siege to Parliament, firing teargas into the crowd, injuring about 70 people, in order to clear a path for members of the lower and upper houses to hold a session to announce the new government's policy statement.

The teargas assault allowed the legislators into Parliament but failed to disperse the protestors.

By Tuesday evening the demonstrators, many of them armed with golf clubs, iron rods and sticks, had surrounded the Parliament compound, trapping hundreds of legislators inside and forcing Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to escape by jumping a fence and making his getaway in a helicopter.

"We want the government to dissolve Parliament by 6 pm," said Sonthi Limthongkul, a key leader of the PAD which has occupied Government House, the seat of government, since August 26. "If not we will take strong measures against the government."

Police returned to the scene Tuesday shortly before 6 pm to help about 300 trapped legislators escape from the besieged Parliament compound.

After police fired more tear gas at the protestors, the legislators were able to run to safety through one of Parliament's side entrances. Altogether more than a hundred of PAD followers were injured in Tuesday's confrontation, and one woman died when a jeep, parked near Parliament, exploded under still mysterious circumstances.

Police blamed the explosion on a bomb.

In the morning assault, at least two protestors lost their lower legs and another lost his right hand, apparently from tear gas canisters either shot at close range or detonated when the victims attempted to kick or throw them back at police.

Thousands of PAD followers marched on Parliament Monday night in an effort to prevent the lower and upper houses from holding a session to approve the new government's policy statement.

The police attack on the PAD immediately drew criticism from human rights groups and the opposition Democrat Party refused to attend the Parliament session to protest the use of violence.

Thai Queen Sirikit has reportedly donated funds for medical treatment for the injured.

The PAD is a loose coalition of groups opposed to the return to power of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup on September 19, 2006.

The current government is led by the People Power Party (PPP), a group with close ties to Thaksin that is now led by Somchai, Thaksin's brother-in-law.

There are fears among the PAD that this government is seeking to reinstate the 1997 constitution, a liberal, pro-political parties charter that paved the way for Thaksin's rise to power in 2001 to
2006 and allowed his Thai Rak Thai party to dominate the political scene unhampered by independent bodies and checks and balances.

A previous attempt by former premier Samak Sundaravej to amend the 2007 constitution, which favours the bureaucracy and has strengthened the judiciary and other checks on corrupt politicians, brought the PAD to the streets in May.

Samak lost his post last month when the Constitution Court found him guilty of moonlighting on the premiership for hosting television cooking shows.

The PAD protests culminated in the seizure of Government House on August 26. They have occupied the seat of administration since.

With the appointment of Somchai as prime minister on September 25, there were signs that the PAD was more open to resolving their differences with the government peacefully.

Somchai appointed Deputy Prime Minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to handle the peace talks with the PAD, but his plans were derailed when police arrested PAD leaders Chaiwat Singsungwong on Friday and Chamlong Srimuang on Sunday.

Both men face treason charges for leading the occupation of Government House.

The arrests of the two PAD leaders perplexed observers.

"It was a screw-up, a la Thai style," said Kraisak Choonhavan, a member of the opposition Democrat Party.

Kraisak blamed the poorly timed arrests on the police, who may have been taking orders from the military.

"There is a faction within the military who dislike Chavalit, so anything Chavalit does they try to undermine him," said Kraisak.

Kraisak was one of the last people to see Chaiwat before he was arrested. Chavalit, a former army-commander-in-chief and prime minister, resigned his post as deputy premier Tuesday. (dpa)